Introduction about the Creation
The Adepts of Mysticism – Saints, Masters of Truth, Murshid-i-Kamil or Pir – report to us that the exploration of the Inner Realms is the hereditary title of each soul; and if we do not go inward, in order to cross these realms, this will be our fault. Kabir, the Indian poet and Saint described these regions in His scriptures. They were also described by Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikh religion, Swami Ji and Baba Jaimal Singh Ji, two Highest Adepts of Mysticism in the 19th century and also by Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji in the 20th century and His Spiritual Successor Kirpal Singh in the 21st century.
According to the teachings of the Adepts of Mysticism there are three main divisions. It is most appropriate to subdivide these regions her into three main divisions of the cosmic plan of creation:
1. – the purely Spiritual Region;
2. – the spirituo-material region;
3. – the materio-spiritual region;
The materio-spiritual one is the main realm which is the closest to the physical universe. The central source of power of this materio-spiritual region has become known as Sahasdal Kanwal – thousand-petalled lotus – in the Oriental terminology, and it is this source of power from which the whole physical universe gets its driving energies. This third main realm has been termed astral level in the western occult literature and in the theosophical scriptures. In this astral realm the scale of time is smaller than in the second spirituo-material realm, but much bigger than in the physical universe. At the end of a shorter cosmic cycle of life, which lasts, however, many million years, it will vanish into the realm of the Universal Mind. This is where the heavens of most of the religions of the world are located. Here one can find the heaven of Christianity, the Paradise of Islam and the Swargas of Hinduism. These heavens are really beautiful, but they are also subject to the final dissolution.
The beginning of the mystical Path of Love, the Way back to our True Home, however takes place at the lowest level of creation, which comprises our entire physical universe: all the planets, suns, stars, solar systems, galaxies and cosmic systems – whether known to current astronomy or not. Matter in our physical universe is in its rawest, densest form with a tiny addition of Spiritual Substance which is just enough to enliven matter and to preserve life.The physical structure of our universe is the lowest projection of a cosmic idea, which is guided by the medium of the Universal Mind. The whole physical universe with its millions of galaxies that are a vast number of light years apart from one another, is just like a dust particle if compared to the Inner Realms beyond it.
Guru Nanak describes the three grand main divisions as follows:
The first is the Region of Truth and Pure Spirit unmixed with matter.
Ramkali M5
Here the spirit reigns supreme and there is total absence of matter. This is the region where the Lord Himself dwells and may be defined as the purely Spiritual Region. This is free from the haunt of death and destruction. Whoever reaches its domain, obtains True Salvation.
The Master says:
Once you reach the region of the Formless, you obtain the abode of everlasting Joy and Peace.
Sorath M1
Again:
The Formless dwells in the Pure Spiritual Region.
Jap Ji, Stanza 37
The second Grand Division consists of Pure Spirit and a subtle form of matter combined in varying degrees.
The upper part of it is called Par Brahmand, wherein the spirit is more to be compared with the subtle forms of matter. In the lower parts called Daswan Dwar, both are in equal part. This is the region of the Universal Mind and is termed by various names by various Masters. Here the Spirit is mixed with matter in its subtlest form, the latter being totally subordinate to the former. Spirit in this region predominates and is pre-eminently the ruling force. This region undergoes a change at the destruction of the universe in the Grand Dissolution, Maha Pralaya, and in Dissolution, Pralaya.1 A man in this domain is safer than in the one below it.
The third region is the Grand Division of spirit and matter in its grossest form and is called And. It is comprised of Trikuti and Sahasrar planes. It is the sphere of Maya or matter. In this region matter has the upper hand and spirit is subordinate to it, so much so, that the latter feels dependent on the former for its manifestation. In this region the spirit, on account of its association with matter, undergoes untold miseries and is subjected to the law of transmigration.
Both these divisions are referred to as Kal and Maha Kal respectively. […]
This, in brief, is a sketch of the Macrocosm – the Great World Universe. These three divisions also exist in man on a miniature scale. If you want to know about macrocosm, you must first know about the microcosm.
Excerpt from the Jap Ji –
Three Grand Divisions and their Features,
edited by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974
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Indication of Source: This chapter contains excerpts from the text ‘The Path Through the Astral Realms,’ by Dr George Arnsby Jones, published in Sat Sandesh / June 1975.
Explanation: 1) In the Pralaya the material world is dissolved, in the Maha Pralaya the spirituo-material worlds are dissolved.